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As per North Dakota’s oil regulator, the state’s daily crude output fell 1.1% in March after edging down 0.4% in the previous month. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources’ (‘DMR’) latest data said that oil production in March averaged 1,162,071 barrels a day, down 13,245 barrels a day from February.

But unlike crude, natural gas output went up – from February’s 2,106,121 thousand cubic feet per day to 2,116,294 thousand cubic feet per day – a new all-time high. As operators scramble to the core areas of the Bakken, wells here tend to produce more gas along with crude (present gas flare rate of around 12%).

Record Number of Producing Wells

Meanwhile, North Dakota’s total number of producing wells numbered 14,457 at the end of March, the highest on record.

While the slight drop in oil activity – primarily attributed to windy weather – is the fourth month-over-month production decrease in a row, daily output remained above 1 million barrels for the fourteenth month.

Therefore, notwithstanding the temporary blip, the newest numbers confirm the resurgence in volumes extracted from North Dakota, centered on the Bakken Shale formation.

Rig Count Improves

Some 59 drilling rigs were active in the state in March, up two from the February average. The drilling rig count increased further to 60 in April. The all-time low of 27 was set in May 2016, while a year ago, North Dakota had just 46 rigs operating.

A closely watched yardstick of North Dakota oil industry's strength, the improvement in the number of units searching for oil and gas in the region indicates rebounding drilling activities and production. Going by the outlook of crude producers, seven to ten more rigs are likely to join the fleet by the end of this year.

Though the current rig count is still down considerably from the peak of May 2012 when North Dakota had 218 units drilling, one must note that sophisticated drilling rigs have enabled producers to get more oil out of each well. In other words, modern rigs have helped boost the per-unit output.

Shale Industry Adjusts to the New Reality

More rigs in operation and stable production not only confirms the positive developments for the state of North Dakota, but also points to the rising flood of U.S. shale-driven production.

Now at a financial equilibrium, the shale firms are putting more rigs and employees back to work. Throughout the downturn, producers (in North Dakota and particularly the Permian Basin in Texas) worked tirelessly to cut costs down to a bare minimum and look for innovative ways to churn out more oil from rock. And they managed to do just that by improving drilling techniques.

With these efforts, many upstream companies have repositioned themselves to adapt to the new $50-$60 oil reality and even thrive at those prices. In other words, while OPEC's moves to trim output and rebalance the demand-supply situation has stabilized the market to a large extent, in the process it has incentivized shale drillers to churn out more.

Crude Prices on a Steady Climb Upward

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate benchmark hit a three-and-half-year high of $72.24 recently. Also, we are confident that improving fundamentals have probably put a floor under crude prices for the time being. While we do not rule out chances for short-term pullbacks on surging domestic production and a stronger U.S. dollar, we remain extremely confident of an extended period of gains in the near future.

In this context, the steady recovery in North Dakota’s production bode well for the region. With oil prices likely to head higher, the monthly output in the second-largest oil producing state after Texas is expected to stay above the psychologically important one million barrel a day mark for the time being.

Dakota Access Pipeline Increased Takeaway Capacity

Apart from the strength in crude prices, there is another factor that is set speed up Bakken output growth – the 1,100-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline.

Making good on his campaign promises to rev up infrastructure spending, President Trump ignored bitter opposition from environmental activists and signed executive order to smooth the way for Energy Transfer Partners’ (ETP - Free Report) $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline just a few days into his new Administration.

With the project’s arrival, operators have scrambled to use the Dakota Access Pipeline to send a major portion of their product to market. In fact, around 73% of oil shipments out of North Dakota are now being carried by pipelines, with the costly railroad share dropping from over 24% in the early part of 2017 to some 17%.

Market players believe that the pipeline has helped in bettering the region’s drilling economics by lowering transportation costs for operators. Set to carry about 520,000 barrels of oil daily, or more than 50% of North Dakota’s output, the commencement of the Dakota Access Pipeline has bridged the gap between Bakken players and producers in other U.S. oil producing areas like the Permian Basin.

The geographically constrained Bakken Shale's crude has now better access to Gulf and East Coast refineries and also reaches international markets. As expected, the pipeline, where energy majors like Phillips 66 (PSX - Free Report) , Enbridge Inc. (ENB - Free Report) and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC - Free Report) have invested, has helped to improve the region’s drilling economics by lowering transportation costs for operators and benefit the state financially.

Products from companies like Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR - Free Report) , and Hess Corp. (HES - Free Report) were among the first to reach the international markets (China and Netherlands), with the help of Dakota Access.

While there are apprehensions that growing North Dakota production could outpace the pipeline capacity again sometime next year leading to widening discount for the regional crude, current prices continue to exceed breakeven costs by around $30 per barrel.

But there is definitely a case to build more infrastructure for the ever-increasing natural gas volumes. Recently, North Dakota Public Service Commission green lighted Tulsa-based ONEOK Inc.’s (OKE - Free Report) suspended Demicks Lake processing plant. The 200 million-cubic-feet-per-day facility, costing around $400 million, is likely to be completed by the fourth quarter of next year. The conduit will enhance processing capacity in North Dakota's Williston Basin, where wells churn out the maximum gas.

Oil Production Expected to Hit Record in 2018

Overall, rebounding oil prices, together with the start of the Dakota Access Pipeline, are expected to support further increase in Bakken output by providing the companies a chance to push their produce outward at a lower cost.

In fact, Lynn Helms – the director of DMR – feels that a conducive oil pricing environment is likely push the state’s output beyond the all-time high of 1,227,483 barrels/day sometime by mid-2018.

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